The future of the Jaguar formula one team could be in jeopardy if the latest in a succession of management changes fails to steer it on to a competitive footing after three years of abject disappointment.

That message was implicit in the latest raft of organisational changes announced yesterday after another internal coup sent Niki Lauda packing as team principal after only 16 months. In August of last year the three-time world champion replaced the former Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal in the job that the American had inherited nine months earlier after Neil Ressler stood down for family reasons.

Yet this time there was not even a replacement candidate nominated for what is becoming the most thankless task in motor racing. Instead Jaguar's owners Ford have adopted a more focused approach where high-technology engineering rather than star personalities is the main priority in a bid to build better cars and save the team.

The dismal bottom line shows 21 points scored out of 51 races and only two podium finishes thanks to Eddie Irvine's third places in the 2001 Monaco and 2002 Italian grands prix.

Irvine's contract was not renewed at the end of the season and his team-mate Pedro de la Rosa has been sacked despite having another year of his contract to run. They have been replaced by the promising but untested pairing of Australia's Mark Webber and Antonio Pizzonia from Brazil.

Richard Parry-Jones, Ford's chief engineering officer, is the man responsible for what he hopes will be a decisive new approach. He made it clear that he did not think Lauda had the necessary technical credentials. Instead he has appointed the little-known engineer Tony Purnell to the position of director of technology for Ford's premier performance division which includes the Jaguar team, the engine manufacturers Cosworth racing and the electronics specialists Pi.

"In the end what our fans, our workforce and our sponsors are going to say is 'OK, this may look a little bit turbulent again' but, if we deliver, we will have achieved what we set out to do," said Parry-Jones.

"I accept that instability is negative. But if you don't have the right ingredients in place, what do you do? I made the decision. I will stand or fall on accountability of making the right decision."

Purnell, who has a wide-ranging motorsports CV, built up over the past 20 years in a variety of other disciplines including aerodynamics and Indy cars, will be responsible for all three companies.

The decision left Lauda bewildered after he had been summoned to England on Monday as he prepared to leave Vienna to fly to the first winter testing at Barcelona. "Richard asked me instead to detour to England and be in his office at one o'clock on Monday afternoon. I walked in and he said, 'Niki, I have to change the philosophy of running the formula one team.'

"He told me that he was going to appoint Tony Purnell, who was formerly my right-hand man, to run the show. I said, 'OK, fine, but what have I done wrong?' He said: 'You've not done anything wrong.'

"I'm surprised that he took this decision which effectively means the team starting all over again."